Users enjoy protected media content in many different ways. Users can enjoy content in ways dictated by a traditional content distributor such as a radio station or movie theater by listening to songs on the radio or watching movies in the theater. Users also enjoy content using physical media usually purchased from another type of content distributor, e.g., through purchasing songs on CD or movies on DVD from a store.
More recently, users have been able to access protected media content digitally, either by recording content or accessing content through services that provide content according to subscription, purchase, rental, or other business models. Many users, for example, wish to download and use protected media content in mobile computing devices, such as cellular phones and the like. This content may include songs, music videos, ring tones, movies, and computer games, for example.
There are significant challenges for distribution services distributing content to mobile computing devices, however. Some distribution services follow procedures for distributing content that are vulnerable to malicious attacks attempting to steal protected media content. Others take considerable amounts of time. Some content distribution services for mobile computing devices, for example, rely on relatively slow components to perform complex cryptographic functions, which may result in a delay of seconds or even minutes between when a mobile computing device requests to use protected media content and receiving permission for that use.
Further still, users often wish to buy new mobile computing devices, such as a new cellular phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). In doing so, current distribution services often expend significant bandwidth and/or compromise the content's security to provide that content to the new device. Users, in turn, may also expend additional time and money to regain their content on their new device. This can be irritating to users and in some cases cause users to switch mobile service providers, which negatively affects service providers wishing to retain customers.